Touchdown - United Kingdom.

27/5/12

No photos today peoples. We were all far to busy catching up with friends to pick up a camera.

After a quick seven hour flight we were on the ground in the UK in London. Paige saw a Harry Potter World brochure on the way out and just about fell over herself to get to it. Just reading it made her super excited. Then she asked when we are going and I told her it was on our last day in the UK. I think she would have gone there straight from the airport. Of course the first thing we had to do after passing through immigration was...go shopping. We didn't even make it out of the airport. So after picking up some supplies (Gin, Whiskey, and perfume for Paige) in the duty free shop, we were off to pick up our hire car.

Now this trip doesn’t have an unlimited budget so we hired a car from a smaller company that doesn’t have pick up facilities at the airport. We were to be picked up outside the terminal and taken to the offsite office to pick up our rent-a-rocket. So after about 30 minutes our lift arrived and took us to the office. Another 30 minutes of paper shuffling and then squeezing six suitcases in the car we were ready to go in our black Hyundai something or other.

No problems, plug in the Garmin sat nav with the brand new European maps installed, punch in the address, and we’ll be off. Half an hour later after cursing and swearing Suzanne went back into the office and got a Google maps print out with directions to our host’s home. Now, my Facebook friends will have read about the dramas I had with my Tom Tom and not being able to load the European maps that I had bought. I picked my Tom Tom up the day before we left after leaving it at a shop for two weeks to be sorted out, with no luck. I left it sitting on my desk at home and will contact Tom Tom when I finally calm down. I decided I’d take the Garmin to use in the car then buy a new bike sat nav in the UK for the trip. Now the #^*!@# Garmin wouldn't work. There was a little tension in the car as we followed Google’s directions and got lost a few times but eventually we rocked up at Julie (one of Suzanne’s publishers) and Brian’s house.

We haven’t seen Julie or Brian for a few years and they have been working extremely hard at losing weight recently. We've seen a few photos but when we saw Brian we were blown away. The results are AMAZING. Brian, with his 30 inch waist, looks super fit and I keep telling him not to stand next to me because he makes me look even fatter than I am. Julie was out at a family function and was due back soon.

An added bonus, one of our face painting friends was there to greet us as well. Carla-Jane (a real nut case) presented us with a mobile phone we can use in the UK and keep in touch. Carla is a crack up and has decided she’s coming to Disneyland Paris with us. I'm not sure if Paige is ready for this. 

We all headed out for a pub meal. Now, Aussies, hang onto your hats. Dinner for five people including drinks was….55 GBP! About $90. Everything over here is so cheap, except petrol.

Julie rolled up at the pub after about an hour. Julie has dropped 70 kg since we last saw her. That’s like losing a whole Paige in weight. It’s taking some getting used to because although it sounds like Julie, it definitely doesn't look like Julie. It is a little bit weird and like having a different person around. 

It’s so good to catch up with these guys. We’re pretty happy to be here .   : )